Mattress covers are well known in the art and are used to cover mattresses to prevent or reduce wear and tear, soiling or other damage to the mattress. Mattresses have been manufactured in various thicknesses. For example, the standard mattress is approximately 7-8 inches thick and manufacturers are now making premium mattresses in sizes up to 141/2 inches thick. Thus, there is a need to produce mattress covers for fitting mattresses of various sized thicknesses.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,985,953, which is assigned to Louisville Bedding Co., discloses a mattress cover that attempts to solve the problem of fitting mattresses of various thicknesses. The mattress cover includes a top panel and a depending skirt. The depending skirt is formed of a gathered layer of inelastic material with a plurality of spaced-apart, parallel rows of elastic cords stitched throughout the inelastic material. Thus, the material is elastic in the direction of the elastic cords and inelastic in the direction perpendicular thereto.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,187,952 and 5,247,893, which issued to D. Zafiroglu and are assigned E. I. DuPont Nemours and Co., are incorporated herein by reference and disclose a fitted mattress pad having an elastic skirt formed from a stitchbonded fabric. The elastic skirt is comprised of a fibrous layer having rows of covered spandex yarns and rows of stretch yarns sewn therein to create a fabric with lanes of different stretchability. This skirt material provides stretchability of 190 percent and 60 percent in the longitudinal direction in the first and second lanes, respectively, and provides 80-90 percent stretchability in the transverse direction.
The prior art also consists of a mattress cover disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,127,115, which is assigned to Pillowtex Corporation and is incorporated herein by reference. This mattress cover is comprised of a non-woven substrate, with polyester and Lycra.TM. threads knitted into the substrate along the longitudinal direction of the skirt. The Lycra.TM. threads are knitted in one inch intervals to create a fabric having a striped or banded appearance. The skirt fabric exhibits elastic stretch in the longitudinal direction of approximately 60 percent and inelastic stretch in the transverse direction of approximately 30 percent.